James Simmons: A Poet Like no Other

Abstract

Widely hailed as one of the leading lights of the Northern Irish literary renaissance, Simmons’s name is most often linked to the review The Honest Ulsterman which, at considerable personal expense, he founded in 1968. The second and no less remarkable venture with which he is credited was the setting up of the Poets’ House, an academy to train fledgling bards and creative writing. Initially based in Co. Antrim they have now moved to Co. Donegal in the North West of Ireland.